SI

End of an Era: Legendary CBS Broadcaster, Verne Lundquist, Is Set for His 40th and Final Masters

Verne Lundquist says the Masters will be emotional for him as he prepares to work his last event ever.

Jimmy Traina

Mar 20, 2014; Buffalo, NY, USA; Sportscaster Verne Lundquist works in the second half of a men’s college basketball game.
Mar 20, 2014; Buffalo, NY, USA; Sportscaster Verne Lundquist works in the second half of a men’s college basketball game. / Kevin Hoffman-USA TODAY Sports

1. Verne Lundquist stopped calling college football games for CBS in 2016, but he remained on the network's golf coverage.

However, that amazing run for the 83-year-old will come to an end this weekend after the Masters wraps up on Sunday. It will be the 40th and final Masters of Lundquist's phenomenal career as he goes into full retirement.

“[CBS Sports chairman] Sean [McManus] and I had a conversation a couple of years ago about when the proper time would be to exit stage left, and he and I agreed that 40 had a nice round feel to it,” Lundquist recently said on a conference call.

"And that we would exit from the Masters, and from golf and from CBS at the end of the second week in April this year. It will be emotional.”

As with any great sports broadcaster, Lundquist was as a versatile as they come. Throughout his career, we heard him call NFL games, college football games, college basketball games, NBA games, tennis and golf. And he was perfect on each sport that he worked.

His voice was especially perfect on golf, where he had several memorable calls. His most famous, perhaps, came at the 2005 Masters when Tiger Woods sank a dramatic shot for birdie on 16 in the final round to nail his victory: “Well, here it comes ... Oh, my goodness. ... Oh, wow! ... In your life, have you seen anything like that?”

Woods remembered that moment Tuesday, fondly saying, “Yeah, I’ve heard that call a couple of times.”

Jim Nantz, CBS's lead voice on the Masters, spoke about Lundquist's legacy on that same conference call.

“Verne's going to always have a home with Augusta," said Nantz. "He's going to be a part of Augusta forever. And those calls that he's made, they're going to be played back 50, a 100, 200 years from now … He’s got permanent residence.”

Whether you're a golf fan or not, whether you plan on watching the Masters or not, if you have an appreciation for the art of broadcasting, make sure you tune in for at least a few minutes this weekend to hear the final calls from one of the most prolific sports broadcasters in television history.

The term "end of an era" gets thrown around so much and so carelessly by all of us, but the end of Verne Lundquist's broadcasting career truly is the end of an era.

2. Monday’s UConn-Purdue NCAA men’s basketball national championship averaged 14.8 million viewers. That was up slightly from the year before, when UConn-San Diego State drew 14.7 million viewers.

While a lot of people have been griping about the 9:20pm ET tip-off time, I think the bigger issue is the title game airing on Turner Sports. On top of being a cable channel versus CBS, which is an over-the-air channel, Turner does not air college basketball the entire the season. It doesn't air any conference championship games. And then Turner swoops in for the tournament. It's bizarre.

3. In other Monday rating news, on the heels of a white-hot WrestleMania, the WWE and USA Network drew 2,362,000 viewers for Monday Night Raw. It was the show's highest rating since February 2020.

4. The Bulls had what might have been the funniest blunder of the NBA season on Tuesday when Andre Drummond threw a pass to himself off the backboard for a dunk only to have the play blown up by his own teammate, Torrey Craig.

This great video shows the exact second Craig realized he screwed it all up.

5. A cool moment from Tuesday's Warriors-Lakers game: Gary Payton II spotted Will Ferrell wearing his dad's jersey.

6. A couple of things on this Stephen A. Smith tweet from Tuesday:

The Awful Announcing article on Smith shouting out Quentin Grimes for his play even though he no longer plays for the Knicks was a little harsh. People who are on TV as much as Smith is will make a mistake from time to time. However, Smith gave Awful Announcing a huge win with a shout out on his Twitter account that has 6 million followers.

Also, if you're going to blast someone on Twitter, you gotta make sure you have the handle correct in the tweet and not have any grammar mistakes. Smith's tweet got off to a rough start with that first sentence.

7. The latest episode of the SI Media Podcast with Jimmy Traina features an interview with SiriusXM Hall of Fame radio host, Chris "Mad Dog" Russo. Click in below to listen or listen on Apple or Spotify.

8. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: We started today with Verne Lundquist, we end today with Verne Lundquist. We can't say goodbye to him without remembering his call of the "Kick Six."

Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on Twitter,Instagram and TikTok. 

Published |Modified
Jimmy Traina
JIMMY TRAINA

Jimmy Traina is a staff writer and podcast host for Sports Illustrated. A 20-year veteran in the industry, he’s been covering the sports media landscape for seven years and writes a daily column, Traina Thoughts. Traina has hosted the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast since 2018, a show known for interviews with some of the most important and powerful people in sports media. He also was the creator and writer of SI’s Hot Clicks feature from 2007 to '13.

Home/NBA